The First Question:

1. Which of the following is the best description of good "IT Alignment"?

Making sure all (or most of) your IT projects have solid business justifications Making sure all (or most of) your IT projects respond to needs as requested by the business units Making sure that all (or most of) your IT projects conform to the CFO's requirements for adequate ROI analysis/justification Making sure that all (or most of) your IT projects strongly support the STRATEGIC business goals of the company

The Second Question:

2. When CIOs try to realistically assess the ROI of proposed IT projects, often they have to estimate the dollar-valuation of intangible benefits, but this is fraught with risk. The risk comes from the fact that hardly anyone can ever precisely and accurately estimate the value of intangibles, so if the CIO guesses too high, s/he faces the charge of exaggerating the importance of an IT project just to get it funded—thereby causing loss of political capital, loss of credibility among the other CXOs who are competing for that same new projects money, and loss of reputation as an executive team player with sound judgment. On the other hand, if the CIO guesses too low, s/he risks not getting important IT initiatives funded and will end up being perceived as an ineffective IT champion and unworthy of a seat at the executive table. The best solution to this dilemma for large I.T. projects would usually be:

Don't be stupid enough to attempt to assign specific dollar value to intangibles—just don't even go there Seek to build a consensus with the other CXOs, and especially the CFO, as to the value of intangible benefits before sending forward your ROI analysis for the project Attempt to accomplish the project in smaller phases that can be justified in terms of good tangible benefits for each phase, thereby reducing the risk of the investment Show strong leadership and be bold about estimating the dollar value of intangibles—after all, nothing ventured nothing gained, and a leader who is not willing to assume risk is not really a viable leader

The Third Question:

3. The key for a CIO to build effective political alliances among the other CXOs in the corporation is (select the best answer from among those listed below):

Smart CIOs stay out of politics as much as possible. It will only get you into trouble in the long run. Just strive to be known for effectively putting in good and reliable technology solutions and leave the politics to those who have nothing substantial to contribute Meet often with the other CXOs to play lots of golf, racquetball, skiing, sailing, or whatever else the other CXOs do to build political alliances through socialization Understand the role that each CXO must play in the business and figure out effective IT solutions that help those other CXOs to be more effective in fulfilling the expectations of their individual roles Pay close attention and build a list of the unethical or immoral activities of the other CXOs so you can hold it over them when you really need their support for some important IT project

The Fourth Question:

4. When asked what "IT Governance" is, different CIOs will give different answers to the question. Some of those answers are listed below:

1. It is the subset of Enterprise Governance that deals with the allocation of IT resources
2. It a process by which the CIO gets the other CXOs in the company to share informed ownership of major IT initiatives
3. It is getting the other CXOs in the company to participate as equal members with you (the CIO) as you move through the step-by-step IT Alignment process
4. If done properly, the IT Governance process is indistinguishable from the IT Alignment process

What do you think I.T. Governance is? Please type in your answer below (short essay, not more than 100 words):

The Fifth Question:

5. Which of the following statements are true about your company's corporate Information Security? (Select ALL that apply)

To avoid legal negligence and insure due care and due diligence in the eyes of the U.S. court system, we are strict about ensuring we are complying with each of the ten domains of InfoSec proposed by the ISC2 standards body In order to comply with the "Security Management Practices" domain, we have developed a written Risk Analysis for all of our important information assets to include likely threats and mitigation strategies (all in writing) Our written disaster recovery plan includes business continuance practices and includes a practiced process for feeding back lessons learned to become institutionalized in our DRP Several times a year we test our DRP with surprised unannounced outages at unexpected times We have a well defined and enforced access control policy to ensure people in our company who don't need access to information assets don't have access to them All of our security policies, procedures, standards and guidelines are written and kept updated We employ a DMZ Our Web application developers conform to OWASP standards and guidelines in the development and testing of all our Web apps Sensitive customer data is encrypted when it is stored on our hard drives for daily use We use third generation firewalls or have specific written justification for why we do not use them We know which information security laws (besides just Sarbanes Oxley) pertain to our company and we diligently audit our practices to ensure we are in compliance with them

The Sixth Question:

6. Is the IT department in your company known for being a profit center that contributes invaluably and measurably to the strategic business growth of the company, and is the CIO seen by the rest of the CXOs as the keeper and prime driver of the business strategy of the company?

a. Yes b. No, IT is viewed as a cost center in our company and is focused primarily on making sure we are providing reliable, secure, and cost-effective IT services to the rest of the company c. No, the CIO is one of several CXOs who share this responsibility for the business strategy of the company, but the CIO is certainly no less important in this than any other CXO d. No, and no one in the company, including the CIO, wants it to be that way b. or d,

The Last Question:

7. Some people argue it is more important that the CIO has stronger technical skills than business skills. Others argue that that the business skills are more important than the technical skills. Some would even argue that political and communication skills are even more important than business or technical skills. What do you think? (short essay, not more than 100 words)